Bathurst organisers reveal provisional 12 Hour entry

The Repco Bathurst 12 Hour entry list has been revealed with another world-class field of GT machinery ready to tackle the 21st running of Australia’s International Enduro this February 16-18.

The field is larger and more competitive than took the start in 2023 as the race continues to grow and entrench itself as one of the world’s premier long-distance events.

The Repco Bathurst 12 Hour will open the 2024 Intercontinental GT Challenge, a global tour that includes key endurance races at iconic venues like Spa Francorchamps, the Nürburgring and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

It is also the first round of this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS campaign, which mixes endurance races like Bathurst with sprints.Nine brands are entered with teams from Australia, Hong Kong, China, the United States, Germany, Belgium, France and Taiwan represented. 11 cars are entered by international teams, the most since 2020.

Defending champions Mercedes-AMG lead the way with 10 entries, equalling the record for most from a single brand in any year of Bathurst 12 Hour history.

The iconic German brand has claimed three 12-Hour victories in total including the last two races, with no brand having ever claimed four victories in total - and only one, Mazda, three 12 Hour wins in a row.

The Mercedes-AMG fleet includes two-time winners SunEnergy1 Racing who return seeking a rare Bathurst three-peat this year.

Defending Allan Simonsen Pirelli Pole Award winners and three-time podium finishers Mercedes-AMG Team Gruppe M are back, as are longstanding 12-Hour supporters, the Hong Kong-based Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing.

Australian powerhouse Triple Eight Race Engineering will field two cars, one each in the Pro and Bausele Pro-Am class.

Porsche will field their strongest attack in years with three of the new Porsche 992 GT3Rs to make their Bathurst debut this year, while the previous-generation 991 GT3R that finished second last year will also return. 2023 runners-up Manthey EMA will field two cars – the newest example in the Pro class and their existing car in Pro-Am – with both cars set to be contenders. The German-Australian partnership, one that claimed the DTM Championship in Germany last year, will announce their driving line-up later this week.

Taiwanese squad HubAuto Racing returns to Bathurst with a Porsche, having last raced at Bathurst representing Ferrari, while new team Phantom Global Racing will make their international racing debut at Mount Panorama this year.

Five Audi R8 LMS entries will compete, while BMW Team WRT will field their pair of BMW M4 GT3s for the second consecutive year, headlined by the return of Valentino Rossi.

Lamborghini are represented by the Wall Racing entry, though it marks the Australian debut of the brand-new EVO2 version of the stunning Huracan GT3.

McLaren will be represented on the Bathurst grid for the first time since 2020 thanks to the two-car GT4 class entry of Method Motorsport, a team that lists Supercars star Chaz Mostert as a co-owner.

12 cars are represented in the outright Professional category vying for outright victory this year, while the mix of drivers already confirmed include the likes of IndyCar champion Paul Tracy, Bathurst legend Craig Lowndes, a large portion of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship grid and some of the best GT drivers from around the world.

Several exciting driver announcements are planned for the coming days prior to the event, while the full driver roster will be revealed closer to the event. Seven cars are entered in the Invitational class, the most since the 2018 event, including the Bathurst debut of the French-built Vortex Sports Car and the Aussie-built MARC GT racers.

Last year’s thrilling Repco Bathurst 12 Hour saw the closest finish between the top three cars in history, with just 1.4 seconds covering the podium at the conclusion of what was also Bathurst’s fastest ever endurance race. The 2023 race set records for laps completed (323) and distance completed (2006.7) in 12 Hour history.

The 2024 event will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, Kayo and the Screens of Seven across the February 16-18 long weekend. The Repco Bathurst 12 Hour is supported by the NSW Government via its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

“Good luck picking a winner from this field,” said Event Director Shane Rudzis. The 2024 grid marks a return to the depth of competition that we saw before the pandemic, with international teams and drivers returning on mass to the Mountain. 2023 was a great race but the depth and quality of this field is even better, so it has all the makings of another incredible show. To attract 11 overseas entries, up from four last year, is a positive development and shows the race continues to have significant overseas interest – which, I can assure you, is only going to get stronger with the advent of Ferrari, Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette, among others, already planning to be on the grid in 2025. In the meantime, this will be an incredible show and another Bathurst enduro for the ages.”